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Enter your monthly fuel spend + preferred oil-company. See annual rewards + 1% surcharge waiver per card, net of the annual fee. Co- branded partner cards (BPCL SBI / IndianOil HDFC / HPCL BoB) only pay accelerated cashback at their own pumps — pick wrong and the premium evaporates.
Co-branded cards only pay accelerated cashback at their partner brand. Pick the brand you actually fill at most often.
At ₹8,000/month fuel at BPCL, BPCL SBI Octane earns ₹6,000/year in rewards plus ₹960 in surcharge waiver, against a ₹1,499 fee — net +₹5,461/year.
| Card | Eff. rate | Rewards (yr) | Waiver (yr) | Fee | Net (yr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BPCL SBI Octane SBI· partner match | 6.25% | ₹6,000 | ₹960 | ₹1,499 | +₹5,461 |
| Standard Chartered Super Value Titanium Standard Chartered | 5.00% | ₹2,400 | ₹960 | ₹750 | +₹2,610 |
| IDFC FIRST Wow! IDFC FIRST Bank | 1.00% | ₹960 | ₹960 | LTF | +₹1,920 |
| Amazon Pay ICICI ICICI Bank | 1.00% | ₹960 | ₹960 | LTF | +₹1,920 |
| Axis Bank ACE Axis Bank | 1.50% | ₹1,440 | ₹960 | ₹499 | +₹1,901 |
| HDFC Freedom HDFC Bank | 1.33% | ₹1,277 | ₹960 | ₹500 | +₹1,737 |
| HPCL BoB Energie Bank of Baroda· partner mismatch | 1.00% | ₹960 | ₹960 | ₹499 | +₹1,421 |
| IndianOil HDFC HDFC Bank· partner mismatch | 1.00% | ₹960 | ₹960 | ₹500 | +₹1,420 |
| ICICI HPCL Coral ICICI Bank· partner mismatch | 0.50% | ₹480 | ₹960 | ₹199 | +₹1,241 |
| IndianOil Axis Bank Axis Bank· partner mismatch | 1.00% | ₹960 | ₹600 | ₹500 | +₹1,060 |
Every petrol-pump transaction in India attracts a 1% fuel surcharge levied by the pump (plus GST on the surcharge itself). Almost every credit card waives this surcharge — but with a per-cycle ₹ cap. HDFC Freedom caps at ₹250/cycle; BPCL SBI Octane caps at ₹100/cycle; IDFC FIRST Wow! has no cap. Above the cap, you pay surcharge from your own pocket.
On top of that, co-branded fuel cards pay accelerated reward cashback ONLY at the partner brand's pumps. BPCL SBI Octane pays 25 points/₹100 (~6.25%) only at BPCL — at HPCL it drops to the base rate. IndianOil HDFC pays 5% only at IOCL. HPCL BoB Energie pays 5% only at HPCL. Pick the wrong card-brand pairing and you're paying ₹1,499 in fees for a base-rate card.
Reading the table: "Reward value" assumes you pay only at the partner pump for partner cards, or at any pump for universal cards. "Surcharge waived" is capped per card. "Net" = reward value + surcharge waived − annual fee. A negative net means the card costs more than it earns at your spend level — switch to a lifetime-free card.
What's NOT modelled here: welcome bonus, accelerated rates on non-fuel categories (HDFC Freedom 10X EazyDiner / IndianOil HDFC 5% groceries / etc), milestone bonuses, lounge access value. For full-spend ROI use the Annual Fee ROI Calculator.
Reward rates + waiver caps verified against issuer T&Cs, May 2026. Surcharge is excluded from reward-earning on most cards (i.e., the surcharge amount itself doesn't earn points). GST on surcharge varies by station; not modelled separately.